Today is my birthday

I'm 33 today.

There are days I realize that I'm not where I wanted to be at this age, and other days when I can see just how far I've come. Those are the good days.

I have goals and dreams that keep me pushing forward, and things I want to have done. So, in the spirit of it's-my-birthday, I'm making a "40 before 40" list of things I'd like to do and see and accomplish by the time I turn forty. (Plenty of time.)

Some of the things on my list are small, others are ongoing things. But they are all goals I have that I want to accomplish over the next seven years. After all, it's my list. I can do what I want.

1. Buy a house.
2. Finish writing the collection.
3. Write the waiting play.
4. Get the semicolon tattoo I've been wanting.
5. Blog twice a week, every week, between now and my fortieth birthday.
6. Learn a language (Spanish or ASL, preferably. Or both. Both is good.).
7. Go to a professional women's soccer game.
8. Make a quilt.
9. Buy a new car (to replace our poor, reliable Corolla).
10. Go on an Alaskan cruise.
11. Take piano lessons.
12. Volunteer for Habitat for Humanity.
13. Cut soda out of my diet for good.
14. Do yoga at least once a week, every week, between now and my fortieth birthday.
15. Make a family album/scrapbook (multiple, if needed).
16. Get the Gallifreyan tattoo I've been wanting.
17. Go see a ballet.
18. Get an old fashioned card catalog for my office.
19. Learn Reiki massage.
20. Go to a writing conference.
21. Take at least one trip out of the country (preferably Europe).
22. Read 100+ books in one year. (I started this before my birthday, but there's nothing saying I can't repeat the challenge.)
23. Visit the Emily Dickinson Home & Museum in Massachusetts.
24. Visit the Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum in the Keys.
25. Get the quote tattoo on my right bicep I've been wanting.
26. Get the quote tattoo on my left bicep I've been wanting.
27. Meditate inside a Buddhist temple.
28. Make an herb garden (potted) either in my house or on my patio.
29. Get a bamboo plant for my desk. (I had one before, but it was sick to begin with, so it didn't make it.)
30. Take a self-defense class.
31. Go see an opera.
32. Attend a con of some kind.
33. Go on a yoga/spiritual retreat.
34. Take a mental health day.
35. Go to a pride event.
36. Have a home office with a door that closes.
37. Write a collection of poetry associated with the collection.
38. Go to an Orlando Pride soccer game. (Or several.)
39. Write a screenplay.
40. Visit the Library of Congress.